Moderated Discussion Event Series: Past Events

What changes have been made to student testing categories? Where can I find the most up-to-date information?
Beginning September 7, you will now see updated response choices to the question “How are you currently attending class in the fall?” on the LfA survey within the Student Link. The responses that were added are meant to provide options that more closely align with the experiences of our doctoral students, especially for those of you that are in contact with other BU students or personnel via a Teaching or Research Fellowship but were not previously identified in weekly testing categories.

We’ve updated the testing frequency grid, which you may consult for more information. Below are the specific changes we’ve made that may impact your situation. These changes were made in direct response to doctoral students’ concerns.

• Updated the response that will move graduate students into testing category 2 (tested once per week) to:
  • “I am attending class and other academic commitments in person more than once a week” OR
  • “my on-campus employment or service obligations require interaction with other students and community members”

• Updated the response for students that are fully remote (category 4; not tested) to:
  • “I am attending class remotely only and not coming to campus for any other purpose”

If you are serving in any capacity in which you are in contact with other in-person students or community members (e.g. teaching fellow, teaching assistant, grader, research fellow, research assistant, etc.) please update your Student Link response to “my on-campus employment or service obligations require interaction with other students and community members.” 

We have received a number of questions about category 3 (tested once per semester), which aligns with the response “I am attending class or other academic commitments on campus no more than once a week.”  This response is meant primarily for students that plan to come to campus once or a few times per semester.

As a reminder, for most graduate students your Student Link responses will directly affect your COVID testing category.  A small subset of graduate students that live on BU’s campuses will always be tested twice per week regardless of their LfA response (students that serve as Resident Assistants or Graduate Resident Assistants and those student residing in 90 St. Mary’s Street, 183 Bay State Road, 850 Beacon Street, and 210 Riverway (Peabody Hall).

I have a workplace adjustment and will not be working on campus. Will I still be required to go to the campus and be tested weekly?
No, you will be in category 4 and are not part of a testing protocol. If you need to come to campus, you must change your LfA designation on the Student Link and schedule an in-person COVID-19 test at one of our testing sites.  

If we are infrequently coming to campus, do we switch our status to category 2 and then schedule a test the day we plan to come to campus?
Most CRC and BUMC graduate and professional students are automatically in testing category 2 and will be tested weekly.  Information about testing sign-up, including reminders, will be sent to students regularly via email.  These students will also need to submit a daily symptom attestation. If you are coming to campus less than once per week, you should switch your testing category to category 3. (See subsequent question).

How do we switch our categories? The options on Student Link don’t apply to my situation specifically.
This situation may come up for PhD students doing occasional library research, remote-only students doing clinical work on campus, remote-only students doing clinical work in the Boston area, etc.  We’ve added a new response to the LfA indicator that allows students to let us know that they will be on campus irregularly/infrequently.  If a student selects this option, they will be moved to category 3 and will be tested only once during the semester.  Students in this situation can update their Student Link response now.

For general information about testing policies, please see the communications already distributed to doctoral students:

• COVID-19 Testing Protocols and Expectations (sent via email from the Dean of Students)
• COVID Testing and Arrival (sent via email from the Dean of Students and Student Health Services)

How effective is the type of testing at BU compared to the test where the sample is taken all the way down?
For those who might be squeamish about pushing a swab up their own nose, BU’s test is easier, and more comfortable, than the deep nasal swabs (called nasopharyngeal swabs) that state labs, hospitals, and medical clinics have largely been using. The reason BU is using this easier and more comfortable type of swab (anterior nares swab) is that research shows that coronavirus is being spread mainly by droplets containing virus that are exhaled from the mouth and nose—making the deep swab less important. Another reason for using this anterior nares swab is that it can be done frequently and is less likely to lead people to avoid getting tested.

Observers will make sure each person swabs correctly and adequately before placing their swab inside a sterile test tube container filled with liquid saline and marked with a barcode associated with their unique student ID or other identification number. Sealed test tubes containing completed nasal swabs will then be placed in collection boxes, which will be packaged up and stored until they are taken to the BU Clinical Testing Lab.

How long does it take to get the results of the test?
Our testing centers have been able to provide results in most cases within 24 hours. The average response time is updated regularly on the Healthway Dashboard. Test results should appear in your portal. If you have not received your test result within 48 hours, please contact the Healthway Team at the COVID Medical Line: 617-353-0550.

What is the difference between ‘recovered’ and ‘confirmed non-contagious’ on the BU COVID-19 data dashboard? The glossary includes ‘confirmed non-contagious’ but doesn’t include ‘recovered’.
‘Non-contagious’ means that an individual had been infected with COVID-19 before they arrived at BU and are no longer contagious. ‘Recovered’ means that an individual contracted coronavirus on campus, tested positive, and then, after a period of isolation, recovered, tested negative, and left isolation.

What are BU’s criteria to continue (or stop) in person meetings in the classroom and go fully remote?
There are a number of key metrics that the University tracks – from campus infection rates to relevant public health data – that determine action points. Many of these metrics are represented on BU’s Healthway Dashboard. A group focused on relevant metrics meets daily to analyze the data and identify areas that require a University response.  

How often are badges updated on the Healthway portal?
Student badges are updated in real time as a student’s compliance status changes based upon their completion of daily attestation and testing. Faculty and staff badges are updated based upon their completion of their daily health attestation/symptom survey.

Where can we find information about false negative rates for the type of test that BU is using?
The FDA submission data showed 30/30 concurrence with negative samples, meaning that samples that tested negative in another lab also tested negative in our facilities. Our concurrence was 29/30 with known positives, meaning samples testing positive in another lab. Our sensitivity and specificity with spiked analytical samples are 100% for the last validation run.

Do we fill out the daily attestation every day, regardless if we are planning to come to campus?
Yes, students should fill out the daily attestation every day.

What is BU’s capacity for isolating students who test positive?
The University has 342 isolation beds available to students who test positive. There are additionally 585 quarantine beds for students who have not tested positive but are deemed a close contact of someone who has.

What are the steps taken to specifically protect TAs/TFs?
The comprehensive protocols BU has created in coordination with public health officials have been designed to protect all members of the community, including TAs and TFs. These include testing, contact tracing, ventilation, quarantine, and isolation, as well as classroom and campus-wide social distancing, mask wearing, and health compliance protocols for students, faculty, and staff.

When will we be provided with specific information about our fall semester?
Information about your teaching assignment, co-instructor(s), classroom assignments, and other aspects of your teaching role should be communicated to you directly by your department and/or your school/college. If you do not receive this information, follow up with your program director or department chair.

If I am a teaching fellow for a professor who is teaching remotely, do I need to be in the classroom for lecture? Will the discussion sections automatically be remote, too? Who decides if the discussions can be held remotely?
If your faculty member is delivering lectures remotely, you do not need to be in the classroom for those lectures. That rule, however, does not automatically extend to discussion sections taught by TFs for those courses. Decisions about remote teaching for discussion sections should be discussed with your department.

If a course is NOT remote and has in-person lectures as well as discussion sections led by TFs, do I have to attend the lecture in-person?
This is a decision you should work out directly with the instructor of record. 

If I put in a workplace adjustment due to high health risk of in-person teaching, but received a room assignment for my teaching assignment anyway, does this mean my workplace adjustment has been denied? When will someone be following up about workplace adjustments?
You should have already received a decision from your school/college about your workplace adjustment request. If you have not yet received this information, please contact your associate dean directly.

Will I have a list of students and their learning designations (i.e., who is remote and who is utilizing LfA/in-person options)?
The instructor of record will have this information and may share it with you by providing you access to the faculty link.

If I get COVID-19 and am too ill to teach, who is responsible for taking over my section? Who would be the “substitute”?
Developing structures for flexible teaching arrangements to account for illness, even in the absence of a pandemic, is handled at a departmental level. If you cannot resolve issues related to your teaching assignment with your department directly, either because you are being asked to perform extra teaching duties for a graduate student colleague or because you require a substitute, please contact your associate dean to help you reach a resolution.

What access to course materials will substitutes have?
If you have a co-instructor or teaching faculty mentor, they will be able to share course materials with the arranged substitute. If you are an instructor of record without a co-instructor, you may want to develop an annotated syllabus that could be readily shared with a colleague in the event that someone would need to assist your students in the course during an absence.  

How will those who substitute teach for colleagues be paid?
Departments may decide how and if compensating for additional teaching responsibilities is appropriate.

If a student tests positive, will I (the TF/TA) be informed? If not, why not?
As described in a memo from University Provost Jean Morrison, instructors and TFs will not be informed if a student tests positive for COVID-19 unless the student was a close contact (closer than 6 feet for 15 minutes or more). As the spacing in our classrooms has been optimized to ensure 6 ft of distance during instruction, instructors in most cases will not be considered close contacts.

Are there plans to clean classroom spaces between classes, and if so, who is responsible for that?
Facilities personnel will be increasing the frequency of cleaning in classrooms and of high-touch surfaces; however, they will not necessarily be able to deep-clean each classroom space between classes. There will be cleaning materials available in classrooms for cleaning one’s own teaching and learning area at the start of each session.

Is there a date by which students can expect to be notified whether their classes are in person or not?
Departments should be communicating this information directly to students soon. 

For discussion sections, how will students know if they can come to class or if they are beyond capacity? What do I do if more students show up than will fit according to the room’s capacity?
Student rotations will be assigned by the instructor (who may choose to work with the TF on this issue). If more students show up than the classroom capacity, you may ask some students to leave, particularly if they are out of rotation. Subsequently, the TF and professor will identify appropriate student rotations for discussion sections.

What if students want to attend in-person for some classes and remote for others classes? Do they have that option on Student Link?
Students can update their LfA status at any time during the semester, but not on a course-by-course basis. If a student elects to attend a class in person, they do so for all classes.

Will international students need to communicate decisions of being remote or in person to the ISSO each time they change?
ISSO will be in regular communication with international students when University policies or procedures impact visa status. Please check your email for updates. If you have questions about changes to your LfA status, please direct them to your assigned ISSO advisor.

How will social distancing be maintained as students come in and out of classrooms?
Because each classroom and building on our campuses is different, there is not a uniform way to enforce social distancing for entry and exit in every setting. Each building, however, has been assigned a building coordinator, who is tasked with developing protocols and appropriate communication (including signage) to help ensure health guidelines are followed in their facility.

Will students be assigned seating?
Any decisions on assigned seating are at the discretion of the instructor, but it is recommended.

What kind of air circulation will classrooms have to ensure the safety of students and instructors?
Each classroom will have the equivalent of 4 to 6 air exchanges per hour.  That means 100 percent of the air in the room will be exhausted or replaced with fresh air, MERV 13 filtered air, or HEPA filtered purified air every 10 to 15 minutes.

In the event that an appropriate room cannot be found (especially for large lectures), will the class go remote?Room assignments for courses have been determined. If you are still waiting on a room assignment, please contact the instructor of record/co-instructor and/or your department chair.

Regarding the online portion of the class, who is going to be responsible for the video recording?
The instructor is responsible for recording and posting the recorded class.

Am I expected to check that our students have a green badge as they enter our classrooms? Who is enforcing this?
Faculty, staff, teaching fellows, and teaching assistants are not responsible for managing COVID-19 testing and attestation compliance.  But, if an instructor wishes to manage compliance in their classrooms or offices, they should follow the recommendations found in the FAQs for faculty (titled “Masks, Social Distancing, and Student Compliance in the Classroom). All students will have received the COVID-19 Compliance and Enforcement Protocols sent via email from the Dean of Students and Office of the Provost.

Can I ask a student to leave for not wearing a mask or for wearing a style of mask (such as a bandanna) that has been determined by public health officials to be ineffective?
A limited number of masks will be provided to assist those students without a mask. You may provide one of those to students who are not wearing appropriate face coverings. If the student refuses to put on a mask or is otherwise not compliant, you may ask them to leave and/or adjourn your class session. You can learn more on this resource page for instructors. 

When a student tests positive or has symptoms, who is going to make sure that student gets to isolation housing and how will they travel there?
If a student reports that they are experiencing symptoms, Healthway staff will arrange testing and follow-up. If a student tests positive or requires quarantine, Healthway staff will inform the student, follow up regularly and, in the case of on-campus students, arrange for isolation or quarantine housing with Residence Life.

Will there be any personnel checking to see if students are wearing their masks and have green badges to enter class?
There will not be staff outside of classrooms to ensure student compliance.  Mask wearing will be enforced through community practice – if a faculty member, teaching fellow/ assistant, or staff member sees a student who is not wearing a mask indoors, they can ask the student to put one on. Similarly, if there are students in your class not wearing masks, you can ask them to wear one, provide one, and cancel the session in the event of non-compliance.

You are not required to verify that each student has a green badge. If, however, you (or students) are concerned about compliance with the testing and daily attestation requirements, you may choose to follow some or all of these options:

1. Ask all students in your classes to show you their badges on their mobile devices prior to starting class.
2. If a student is unable to show a green badge, ask that student to leave, to rectify any issues with their testing or attestation before their next in-person class, and, if possible, to utilize the remote LfA option for this class session.
3. Be clear that the student should not come back to that class session and must resolve any issues they have with testing or attestation before attending in-person again.
4. If the student refuses to leave, inform the class that you will not proceed with instruction until the student leaves the room.
5. If the student still refuses to leave the room, dismiss the class and contact your Dean’s office (or the office designated by your Dean for this purpose).

How is BU planning to ensure that anyone who has tested positive for COVID doesn’t show up to the class or lab sessions?
Please visit the Dean of Students website for details about the University’s compliance and enforcement protocols. 

Are there any aspects of COVID-19 related care that would not be covered under either of our student insurance plans?
No.

Does Student Health Insurance Plan coverage for COVID-19 include out of network hospitals?
Yes, COVID care is 100% covered, regardless of provider.

Are we covered if we are taking COVID-19 tests out-of-state to meet MA state travel restriction requirements?
No, those tests are not considered medically required and will not be covered.

If acquiring adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) represents a financial barrier to any student, or masks are not available to them due to where they live/are traveling from, will BU provide PPE as a matter of equity?
A limited number of masks will be provided to assist those students without masks. You may provide one of those to students who are unable to be in compliance.

How will BU help students who do not have smartphones to display their badges?
The Dean of Students is connecting students without smartphones with IS&T to receive BU-provided smartphones.

Will the custodial staff who clean classrooms where students who’ve tested positive have studied be provided with PPE and COVID-19 testing?
Yes, cleaning staff are provided with appropriate PPE and will be classified in a testing protocol based on their role.

Is BU working with the city/state government to decide when it is appropriate to close campus?
The University is working closely with local and state officials and send them daily reports of its on-campus dashboards. As we identify positive cases, we work closely with the Massachusetts Department of Health, particularly around contact tracing efforts.